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Recapture the Art and Blessing of the Doxology

If you grew up attending church, you may remember something called the “doxology.”

In my tradition, it was customary, when the tithes and offerings were collected in a worship service, to stand as the ushers marched to the front of the chapel with the congregation’s collections. At that point, everyone knew what to do: The Doxology. It was a musical rendition of Psalm 100:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above all ye heavenly hosts.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

It might also have been sung to conclude a service now and then. But “The Doxology” was part of our common language, at least in my faith community.

Not so much anymore. I can’t remember the last doxology I sang. But I plan to change that.

“Doxology” is simply a word imported from ancient Greek, from doxa (“glory”) and logia (“word” or “saying”). In modern use, it means a spoken or sung declaration of praise to God. And it’s a great way to pray, whether you’re in church or at the beach.

The Bible is filled with doxologies, and they can all be adopted into or adapted to your prayer life. For example, Psalm 41 concludes, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 41:13, NIV). And Psalm 72 includes the doxology:

Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen (Psalm 72:18-19, NIV).

The New Testament writings contain numerous doxologies:

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (1 Timothy 1:17, NIV).

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36, NIV).

To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen (Romans 16:27, NIV).

To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen (Jude 25, NIV).

So try it. Give honor, glory and praise to God by speaking, writing and singing doxologies to Him, both from scripture and from the spontaneous utterings of your heart, mind and voice.

Pray the 7 ‘I Am’ Statements of Jesus

To some people, “Iams” is just a brand name for pet food. For others, it is a powerful and inspiring way to pray.

One of the unique features of the fourth Gospel, written by John (the beloved disciple) a few decades after the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, is its singular structure, which is more thematic than chronological. And part of that structure is the inclusion of seven striking statements Jesus made, which have come to be called “The Seven I Ams.”

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The first occurs in John 6:35, soon after Jesus miraculously fed a crowd of 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes. He said:

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35, NIV)

It was the first of seven metaphors Jesus used to portray his divine nature and redemptive mission. And those “I Am” statements can be a great way to pray, particularly when your faith and hope need a boost.

For example, you may make a list of the seven “I Ams” and pray something like this:

1) Lord Jesus, you said, “I am the bread of life.” Your nature is to provide and sustain life as You did for crowds on Galilean hillsides. I pray for You to meet my need today.

2) You said, “I am the light of the world.” It is Your very nature to dispel darkness. Please light the path ahead of me and shine Your light on me.

3) You said, “I am the door of the sheep.” You protect and shelter those who depend on You. Let nothing come my way that You have not approved.

4) You said, “I am the good shepherd.” Your nature is to care and lead and guide. Please do that for me today.

5) You said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” You banish sadness and impart vitality and abundance. Please resurrect my hopes and enliven me today.

6) You said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Your very nature is to drive away confusion, distraction, error, doubt and death. Please banish those things from my heart, mind and spirit today.

7) You said, “I am the true vine.” You impart Your divine beauty, grace and vitality to all those who abide in You. Help me to abide in You today and infuse me with Your nature.

Those prayers are offered as a mere example, of course. Yours will be more specific to your situation and need. And you may find, as I do, that the “I Ams” are so rich and meaningful that you can pray them every day for a week and never pray the same way twice.

Give it a try. It is a great way to connect your praying to the beauty, power and wealth of Jesus Himself.

Pray for Peace on the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day

Is it possible to have a prayer about buttons? One to mark the 100th anniversary (November 11, 2018) of a dreadful war’s end?

I was going through an old chest and found a treasure from 100 years ago. A little card on which four brass buttons were attached. In my grandmother’s handwriting it said: “Grampie’s Navy buttons, 1918.”

My grandfather was one of some four million Americans who were called up to fight in World War I.

He was not on the front lines in a muddy trench in France where the conflict was at its bloody worst, but served on a battleship in the Atlantic after doing a brief stint at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

In the Atlantic the enemy was underwater–the infamous German U-boats—or in battleships at sea. He was more fortunate than most, surviving unscathed. He would return home and unclip the brass buttons from his Navy jacket, to be saved for eternity.

Stateside, he was a proud member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. But sadly he was to see what little good his war service had done for peace when his own son, my dad, was called up to serve on a submarine in the Pacific.

How precious to have those buttons as a remembrance of him. In England, November 11 is called Remembrance Day, a time when younger generations honor the service of their elders, especially those lost.

For it was on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour, 100 years ago, that peace was declared between the warring powers. A peace that didn’t last. Alas.

In America, that day has become Veterans Day when we honor all of our veterans, but the message feels the same. We remember them for their service, then and now.

Maybe I should sew those buttons on to some blazer that I wear. But I like them on their little card with my grandmother’s handwriting. “Grampie’s Navy buttons, 1918.” It seems a strong reminder to pray for peace. Always. Everywhere.

Pray a Little Poetry

Are you sometimes stymied in prayer because you’re trying to get it “right”? Do your prayers all sound the same these days? Are you getting bored with your prayer life?

If so, consider praying a little poetry for a while. Specifically, do a few haiku.

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Haiku is a simple and popular form of poetry that comes from Japan. Most people know it as 17 “sounds” or syllables arranged in three lines of (respectively) five, seven, and five syllables each.

Strictly speaking, there is more to a haiku than that (such as a reference to nature in general and seasons in particular), but the brevity and simplicity of the form is what helps me in prayer. Praying in haiku helps me to simplify my thoughts and focus on my feelings. It places me in the present moment. It helps me “sing a new song,” so to speak, in prayer.

Here are a few of the haiku prayers I have recorded in my prayer journal:

fossils of seashells

high in the Himalayas;

You have done great things

* * *

the crow picks at death

like the unforgiving heart;

help me to forgive

* * *

trees lay down their leaves

with each one I bless Your name

one sweet sacrifice

I don’t always pray in haiku, but when I do, it stirs something in me and often revives my prayer life. It is such a simple way to pray, but one that incites humility, wonder, praise and gratitude in a unique way.

You don’t have to be a poet to pray this way. You do have to be able to count to five, and seven, however. But even then, the point isn’t the poem but the prayer. So try it, and see if an ancient Japanese form of poetry can inflame something new in your prayers.

On Wings and a Prayer

On cold mornings when I sit on the sofa to pray I’m grateful for the blanket that’s sitting there. I wrap it around me and huddle in its warmth as I sink into prayer. It’s as though I’m in my own cocoon, like a butterfly in its chrysalis awaiting transformation. O, that I would have wings.

Let me be the first to admit how my mind wanders a million different ways when I pray, settling here, flying there, coming back again and again to the divine, letting go, putting my worries and fears in God’s capable hands.

Sometimes a phrase from a psalm or two floats through my early morning brain. I was just thinking how often wings appear:

“O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest,” said the Psalmist (55:6). Prayer is something like that, giving me a means to go where I need to go.

But then wings also offer a refuge in the Psalms, a safe haven, God’s shelter. “Keep me as the apple of thy eye; hide me in the shadow of thy wings.” (Psalm 17:8) What better place than that?

Angels, of course, have wings. In the book of Isaiah there’s a wonderful image of the seraphim, “Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew” (6:2). Makes you think of all the things a wing can do.

Finally there are the powerful eagle’s wings later in the same book. “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

Mount up with wings like eagles. That’s pretty good.

READ MORE: FROM CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY

When I talk about prayer to others, I sometimes struggle to describe what I do. Maybe if I just said, “It’s like putting wings on your life and wings on all your desires and letting them fly.”

The other morning, as I was finishing up my prayer time, opening up the blanket, coming out of my cocoon, I stretched my arms out, the ends of the blanket in my hands. It occurred to me that indeed the blanket was just like pair of wings. I was spreading them out and was now letting go.

Who says we earthlings can’t fly?

One-Word Prayers to Help You Through Any Situation

An effective prayer does not have to be a lot of words. Sometimes just one will do. When you find yourself at a crossroads, under pressure, unsure of what to do next or just in need of a boost of inspiration and strength, choose from among these prayers to help you find your way.

4 One-Word Prayers When You Need a Clear Answer
It’s amazing how one simple word in an open-ended prayer will result in clear, multiple answers from God.

A One-Word Prayer for Strength in Difficult Times
It’s a name that Charles Dickens borrowed, but it goes back much further with beginnings in the Bible. Here’s a word you can pray over and over when life feels like a slog.

4 One-Word Prayers for Finding Calm
Feeling anxious or stressed? When you crave a few moments of peace and steadiness, these prayers can help you get there.

3 One-Word Prayers for Emergencies
When life comes at you so fast that you barely have time to sort through your emotions, much less breathe, one of these words can steady you through an adrenaline rush.

4 One-Word Prayers of Hope in a Season of Change
Seasons don’t just apply to the weather. Transitions take place in our lives all the time. Some are welcome. Some are unsettling. Here’s how to pray for a steady course through transition.

7 More One-Word Prayers
Sometimes the most effective prayer is the simplest prayer. When you need to clear your head and focus on just one word, try these for inspiration.

4 One-Word Prayers for Advent
Even though these prayers are geared to those chaotic weeks before Christmas, they can connect you to a place of calm during any overly-busy time in your life.

One-Word Exclamations of Praise
Praise is not just reserved for Sundays. We can praise God throughout an ordinary weekday with some of these suggestions.

One Simple Word That Can Change Your Day
How does your day begin? Along with washing your face and brushing your teeth, here are one-word prayers to point the rest of your day in the right direction.

‘Disturb Us, Lord’

Well, here’s a prayer that woke me up today and knocked me right out of my mid-week doldrums. The title alone made me take notice: “Disturb Us, Lord.” I’d never come across this prayer before and wasn’t even looking for it. You could say it found me. I hope you like it as much as I do. Or maybe you’ve known it all along!

Disturb Us, Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity,
And in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas,
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes,
And to push into the future in strength, courage, hope and love.

(attributed to Sir Francis Drake)

A Sign from God

My seven-year-old son, Shane, made it through a four-hour operation to remove a brain tumor. “But we won’t know whether the tumor was malignant until tomorrow,” the doctor said.

That night I didn’t leave Shane’s bedside. Around midnight an intensive-care nurse suggested I go home to try to get some rest. “Here’s the phone number of the hospital,” she said, handing me a piece of paper. “You can call us anytime.”

I hated to leave, but I had been awake for more than 24 hours, so I went to my house, where I dozed fitfully. Somewhere around 6:00 A.M. I dialed the number the nurse had given me. When a female voice answered I identified myself as Shane’s mother. “How is he?” the woman asked.

I was puzzled. “Is this Children’s Memorial Hospital?” “Honey, this is no hospital,” the woman said. “We’re just a group of women who heard about your son and decided to keep a prayer chain going for him. My friends and I have been on our knees all night praying for that little boy and one of us just asked God to give us a sign that he had heard. Then you called. Praise the Lord.”

The tumor was benign and Shane made a miraculous recovery. I’ve tried to get back in touch with that woman: I’ve dialed every possible variation of the hospital’s number and never again heard her beautiful, velvety voice. But I’ll feel connected to her always.

A Prayer for When You Can’t Pray

The Lord’s Prayer is the only formal prayer that Jesus offered us, the prayer He gave to His disciples when they asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:2–4). Every time you feel you can’t pray, you can start here, with the one prayer given us by our Lord. And since it is literally the Lord’s prayer, a personal gift from Jesus to each of us, we should offer it back to the Lord as a personal gift, embracing the meaning of each line as it reaches out to gather us into Christ’s waiting arms.

Our Father: Lord, help me to remember that You are my Father, a caring Parent Who will love and protect me much more than any human parent.

Who art in heaven: Heaven is Your home, Lord, and I thank You for letting me see glimmers of heaven every day here on Earth, in sunrise and sunset, in thunder and lightning and rain-bearing clouds, in the oceans with their rippling waves and tides and the rivers flowing into them, in roses and irises and snowflakes.

Hallowed be Thy name: Father, let me honor Your name in my every word, action, thought.

Thy kingdom come: Let me remember, dear God, that this world is only temporary, that Your glorious kingdom will indeed come. I long to be swept up into it.

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven: Father, in this world, we are often so far from doing Your will as Jesus revealed it. Help me to live my life according to Your will and help make Earth more like heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread: God of abundance, thank You for providing so generously all that I need. Remind me to share what You provide for me so that all may have their daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses: Without Your continuous forgiveness, Lord, where would I be?

As we forgive those who trespass against us: I should be more forgiving, Lord; show me how.

And lead us not into temptation: Father, I often feel that I’m being tried. Help me to remember that my small trials are nothing compared to those of Your Son,my Brother, and give me the strength and faith to persevere.

But deliver us from evil: Dear God, intervene for me because I am weak, and without Your deliverance I am like a lost and wandering child. Draw me safely into Your protective embrace, Lord.

Amen: You, Father, are the final amen, the way, the truth, the life.

A Prayer for Every Need

It used to be that my prayers for others, though heartfelt, were offered to God in a rather casual way. I remember the time when a friend suffered a miscarriage and she asked me to pray for her. It was only late at night that I thought of her request. I said a quick prayer and fell asleep. Not until my young son, Christian, entered the hospital for some serious testing did I begin to find a different, more caring way of praying.

When I called my closest friends and asked them to pray for Christian, I was surprised at their response. They didn’t just say yes and let it go at that. They asked questions. “What time are the tests?” “What is the nature of the problem?” “Who is his doctor?” ” How long will Christian be in the hospital?” Then without fail, each friend called daily with reassurance and support.

During the long, anxious week of Christian’s hospitalization, I felt strengthened by their prayers. If I was discouraged or afraid, I would remember that I was not alone. My anxieties were quieted. When Christian finally returned home with a clean bill of health, I thanked God. I also thanked my friends who had taught me something new and important about prayer. Here is some of the advice I gave to myself:

1. Be specific.
If God knows all our needs why do we need to ask for them by name? Not for Him-that seems clear-but for ourselves. Any overwhelming task can seem less daunting when we break it down into its components. My mind is inclined to go blank when I pray in generalities, but when I focus on specifics I feel as though I’m making real contact.

2. Study up.
At the end of an educational conference I met a young father, and we spoke briefly of his wife, Scotty, and her long, difficult wait for a heart-and-lung transplant. Immediately I promised to pray for her. Then I followed that up by going to the library and reading all I could about such operations. By the time Scotty was finally summoned to the hospital, I knew what the risks and complications might be. When I prayed for her, my understanding was greater, my compassion deeper.

3. Act.
At the weekly meetings of our church guild the needs of our denomination’s missionaries are called out for prayer. Requests range from new water pumps to airplane tickets-often things that we members can do something about. Once, a family of medical missionaries asked if we could send them some used prescription eyeglasses. We scurried around and eventually sent off a boxful of them. Other groups did the same-enough to provide 700 African schoolchildren with glasses.

It has been said that “to work is to pray.” I’ve often thought that deeds like mailing off a box of eyeglasses serve “to put shoe leather” on prayers.

“The real business of your life as a saved soul is intercessory prayer,” Oswald Chambers once wrote. For me, I have found that the more I pray for others, the more I care, and the more I care, the better my prayer.

7 Prayers for Safe Travels

When I was growing up, among the most frequent prayers I heard my parents use was a prayer for “traveling mercies.” I think I always knew what the phrase meant—an all-encompassing prayer for God’s watchful care and protection as we traveled.

I don’t hear (or say) the phrase as much these days, but I do still pray when I travel. After all, the Bible says, “You have not, because you ask not,” (James 4:2). So I ask. For protection. For timely travel. And more. Here are seven prayers you can use before and during a trip:

1) Based on Psalm 91:9-12, NIV
Lord, you are my refuge;
Most High, you are my dwelling place.
Let no harm overtake me,
no disaster come near me.
Command your angels concerning me
to guard me in all my ways;
let them carry me in their hands,
so that I will not so much as trip over a stone.

2) Based on Psalm 121:8, NIV
Lord, watch over our coming and going both now and forevermore.

3) Based on Psalm 139:7-10, NIV
God, thank you that I can go nowhere without your Spirit,
that I cannot evade your presence.
If I fly through the heavens, you are there;
if I drive through the deepest valley, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

4) Adapted from Saint Patrick’s Breastplate
Christ beside me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ within me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me.
Christ on my right hand,
Christ on my left,
Christ where I leave,
Christ where I arrive.

5) A prayer of Saint Brigit of Kildare, Revised
Lord, I place myself in your keeping as I travel.
I shall not be forgotten.
I shall not be destroyed.
I shall not be imprisoned.
I shall not be harassed by evil powers.

6) A Prayer by Bob Hostetler
Lord, you know what awaits us as we travel today. You know every bend and bump in the road, every sunbeam and cloud in the sky. So please make straight paths for our feet. Grant us safe and successful travel until we reach our destination. Save us from worry and stress. Make us patient and polite along the way. Make us kind and attentive to others, and please give us the blessing of somehow being helpful to someone else. And especially, Lord, make this an Emmaus trip, that we may travel in your company and, when we reach our destination, know you better than when we began, in Jesus’ name, amen.

7) A Prayer by Bob Hostetler
Lord Jesus,
be my vanguard,
rear guard,
and constant companion
as I travel.
Amen.

What about you? Do you have a go-to prayer for before you embark on a trip?

7 Great Prayers for Fathers

One way I plan to honor my father this year on Father’s Day is in prayer, not only for him who has already received his eternal reward, but also for the other fathers in my life—my father-in-law, my son, my son-in-law and numerous friends and other loved ones.

A terrific Father’s Day gift—and one that is routinely neglected—is prayer, whether it is written in a card, prayed over the phone or offered in private. With that in mind, here are seven great prayers for the fathers in your life:

“Lord, bless _________ and keep him; make Your face to shine upon him and be gracious to him; lift up Your countenance upon him and give him peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26, ESV)

“I pray that in all respects _______ may prosper and be in good health, just as his soul prospers.” (3 John 2, NASB).

“I pray for __________, that his love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that he may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11, ESV)

“God, according to the riches of Your glory, grant _________ to be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in his inner being, so that Christ may dwell in his heart through faith–that he, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that he may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19, ESV)

“God, give ___________ Your strength to steer him,

Your power to uphold him,

Your wisdom to guide him,

Your eye for his vision,

Your ear for his hearing,

Your word for his speech,

Your hand to protect him,

Your pathway before him,

Your shield for his shelter,

Your angels to guard him

from ambush of devils,

from vice’s allurements,

from traps of the flesh,

from all who wish ill,

whether distant or close,

alone or in hosts.” (The Breastplate of St. Patrick)

“Christ be beside him,

Christ before him,

Christ behind him,

Christ within him,

Christ beneath him,

Christ above him.

Christ on his right hand,

Christ on his left,

Christ where he lies,

Christ where he sits,

Christ where he rises.

Christ in the hearts of all who think of him,

Christ in the mouths of all who speak to him,

Christ in every eye that sees him,

Christ in every ear that hears him.” (The Breastplate of St. Patrick)

“Father, thank you for _____________.

Please continue and complete your work in him,

granting that he may walk with you like Enoch,

believe you like Abraham,

obey you like Isaac,

wrestle with you like Jacob,

know your hand on his life like Joseph,

speak face-to-face with you like Moses,

win victories for you like Gideon,

speak boldly for you like Elijah,

worship you like David,

see you high and lifted up like Isaiah,

and carry Jesus’ cross like Simon of Cyrene.”  (written by Bob Hostetler)

You may want to revise, amplify or add to those prayers. You may want to write one in a note or read it over the phone. You may want to offer each of these prayers, one for a different father you know.

Whatever else you may do, find a way to offer the fathers you love the best gift of all this Father’s Day: a prayer.